Monthly Archives: September 2012

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The death of Steve Jobs prompted the megachurch pastor and author Steven Furtick (Sun Stand Still) to read a saying of Jesus Christ about doing great things. The ambitious claim of Jesus was that disciples will not only do things they see Jesus do but “will do greater things.”

Furtick weaves stories of his own life with that of the lesser known (than Elijah) prophet Elisha. The spiritual fodder about being greater that Furtick squeezes from his and Elisha’s stories is impressive. Furtick is self-deprecating, unguarded as he relates stories of his “lesser loser life” [15] and shows how to move from “good enough” or even “greatness” to “greater,” which is a way of living that exceeds human effort through the power of God.

Greater includes a full discussion guide with questions for church small groups or individual study and a short word on how to start small in each of the area of focus. Like many sermons turned book chapters, the book is full of personal and Bible stories but seems patched together. Lacks in-depth focus on the central Bible text (John 14:12) that sparked the book. Still, Furtick’s laugh out loud turn of phrase, enthusiasm, and faith pops even in print.

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My friend and brother in Christ, Scott Norvell, talks about receiving “daily bread” from God, not only as physical means but that God provides spiritually everything we need daily if we would just ask Him.

So I’ve been asking this week for daily bread, specifically to know “7 Heartbeats of God” that I plan to talk about Sunday, September 23, 2012. Over the last year, inspired and patterned after the book by Ed Dobson, Garnett has journeyed on what’s called “The Year of Living Like Jesus.” During this time we’ve been learning how to live the great commands of Jesus to love God and others and discovering deeper truths not just “about” God, Christ, and the Spirit but ways we relate to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

For the past several months, I’ve been studying Scripture, praying, reflecting, and proclaiming the unfathomable love, justice, and mercy of the heart of God. We’ve talked about what humans do that breaks God’s heart or warms His heart again to us.

So following Scott Novell’s example, I have asked God for “daily bread” of His word to be confirmed to me through direct whispers of His voice, through words from you in the congregation, through Scripture, and in unexpected ways.

Then I wrote seven days in my journal and I waited each day as I prayed, read, and spoke to many of you, and experienced life around me. Each day God gave me a confirmation of one more heartbeat for each day. I did not rush ahead to list a lot of attributes and certainly this list is not even beginning to be exhaustive to tell of God’s heart.

In some ways these are review and confirmation of God’s heart that we’ve talked about over the past several months, but in other ways — like God’s mercies — these are new today and just the right portion for us in our journey right now.